Title

The Flexibility of Divine Simplicity: Aquinas, Scotus, Palamas

Department/School

Philosophy

Date

2017

Document Type

Article

DOI

https://doi.org/10.5840/ipq201731682

Abstract

Contrary to many interpreters, I argue that Thomas Aquinas’s account of divine simplicity is compatible with the accounts of divine simplicity given by John Duns Scotus and Gregory Palamas. I synthesize their accounts of divine simplicity in a way that can answer the standard objections to the doctrine of divine simplicity more effectively than any of their individual accounts can. The three objections that I consider here are these: the doctrine of divine simplicity is inconsistent with distinguishing divine attributes, with the doctrine of the Trinity, and with the doctrine of divine freedom.

Volume

57

Issue

2

Published in

International Philosophical Quarterly

Citation/Other Information

Spencer, Mark. “The Flexibility of Divine Simplicity: Aquinas, Scotus, Palamas.” International Philosophical Quarterly 57, no. 2 (2017): 123-39. https://doi.org/10.5840/ipq201731682

COinS